21 Best Things to Do in Dallas This Week

Tue 5/30It’s hard to be ethereal and industrial at the same time, but Roni Horn’s exhibition at the Nasher Sculpture Center, 2001 Flora St., accomplishes exactly that. Her massive, heavy glass sculptures could double as some sort of construction equipment – until you get up close and realize the marvelous complexity of them. The light that floods the Nasher plays with the surface of the glass, illuminating, radiating and reflecting a visual experience that changes with your perspective, with the time of day, and with the interplay of tiny flaws and precise curves on each piece. The effect is that the incredibly weighty pieces seem almost angelic, making Horn’s minimalism downright otherworldly. See the Roni Horn exhibition from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays until Aug. 20. Admission to the Nasher is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and military, and free for kids younger than 12 and first responders. Visit nashersculpturecenter.org to learn more. – Jennifer Davis-Lamm

In support of an upcoming third full-length studio album, Foster The People is touring the world with its bubblegum indie pop sure to get your foot tapping. The band became an overnight success in 2010 with "Pumped Up Kicks," an upbeat, catchy song about an outcast plotting revenge. This stardom was a far cry from frontman Mark Foster's day job as a jingle composer for commercials. The band's latest release, an EP titled III, birthed three new singles, "Pay the Man," "Doing It for the Money," and "S.H.C," all of which are included on the band's studio album slated for release this summer. It plays House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $35 to $75 at houseofblues.com. – Diamond Victoria Wed 5/31It’s no secret that Dallas is becoming more and more familiar with the pop-up dinner trend that’s taken the culinary world by storm the past few years. And it is certainly no stranger to the boozy brews bubbling out of the Design District since 2015 with Texas Ale Project, 1001 N. Riverfront Blvd. So with the popularity of these contemporary suppers comes another dinner with the collaboration of two food and drink gurus in the city. The Pop-Up Dinner with chef Aaron Staudenmaier of Lovers Seafood and Market is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 31. Setting the table at Texas Ale Project, Staudenmaier offers a four-course meal in the brewery’s T.A.P. Room, complete with all the noms any seafood lover can handle. Space is limited, so grab your tickets, which cost $75, while they’re available at prekindle.com. – Diamond Victoria

As a songwriter and lyricist, former Heart singer Ann Wilson has written a boatload of hit singles. "Crazy on You," "Barracuda" and "Magic Man" are just three such songs that remain staples of classic rock radio. Recently, she's been stepping out minus her sister Nancy and touring as the leader of the Ann Wilson Thing. Described as both a "new experience for existing Heart fans, as well as for new fans who love blues with a rock edge," Wilson's new band also has her playing more intimate venues than usual. Wilson plays Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets are $39.50 to $89.50 at thebombfactory.com. – Jeff Strowe Thu 6/1Sordid Lives has been described as King of the Hill but gayer. Much gayer. Del Shores’ independent film is a black comedy that leans heavily on small-town Texas tropes to tell a story of coming out and coming together in a family crisis. The cult movie became a cult TV show and inspired a sequel that follows up the original 2000 flick 17 years later. InA Very Sordid Wedding, all the sass and irreverence that made the first film something special come back to take a look at how the small Texas town has evolved since the early aughts and how everyone is coping with the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., gives us the chance to see this evolution in one fell swoop with a double screening of Sordid Lives and A Very Sordid Wedding beginning at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 1. Producer Emerson Collins will host the screening; tickets are $10 per film at thetexastheatre.com. – Jennifer Davis-Lamm

In 1887, by faking insanity, undercover journalist Nellie Bly had herself admitted to one of New York’s most infamous sanatoriums, and she wrote a graphic account of the conditions she witnessed in Ten Days in a Mad-House. Ten years later, she set out to best Jules Verne’s challenge of traveling around the world in 80 days, and before she left and made the record-breaking journey in 72 days, she posed confidently for a photograph for the New York World newspaper. The black-and-white photograph of a confident, young Nellie Bly wearing a checkered coat served as the inspiration for Traveling Lady, an immersive multimedia play conceived and directed by Jessica Mitrani and starring Rossy de Palma with animation by Alex Czetwertynski and music by Andres Levin. The experience is part performance and part film, and the one-woman show maps an earthly (and cosmic) journey that challenges social and gender dynamics as de Palma embodies the spirit of Bly. As part of SOLUNA festival, the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, 2400 Flora St., hosts a performance of Traveling Lady at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 1. Tickets cost $19. For tickets and more information, visit mydso.com/buy/tickets/traveling-lady. – Daniel Rodrigue

Birdwatching may take on a different, and dare we say, more anxious meaning after Theatre Too’s latest offering. Too is staging Conor McPherson’s take on The Birds(adapted from the Daphne du Maurier story, as was Alfred Hitchcock’s famous horror flick). In it, Nat and Diane go through the various stages of WTF as they observe birds repeatedly attacking everyone around them … to the point that they may be the last ones in the vicinity – emphasis on “may be.” They hole up, creating a claustrophobic shelter that becomes even more so when a new human arrives and adds a different dynamic to the paranoia and fear with which they’ve already heavily stocked their fortress. The confines of Theatre Too, 2800 Routh St., No. 168, make for a perfect setting for this frenzied adaptation running Thursdays through Sundays through June 18. Tickets are $35 to $40. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Call 214-871-3300 or visit theatre3dallas.com. – Merritt Martin

Roni Horn's sculptures are on view at the Nasher Sculpture Center through Aug. 20.

Courtesy Wikipedia

Fri 6/2Many artists have individually explored the concept of what lies between dreams and reality, but with In Your Dreams, many artists are exploring that space together musically. The Turtle Creek Chorale’s final show of the season tackles what it describes as “hopes, fears, anxieties and the space and time between our dreams and reality.” While this production of music (including some favorites), dance and multimedia transitions TCC into a new sort of choral theater, the description makes us think of the emotions artists face when preparing new material and taking those steps onto a stage to perform. Through performing, it seems, TCC cannot only explore the emotions of dreams, but also expose audiences to the feeling of an artistic achievement. Close out the season at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 2-3, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 4, at Dallas City Performance Hall, 2520 Flora St. Tickets are $25 to $65. Visit turtlecreekchorale.com. – Merritt Martin

Alynda Segarra started her career as a runaway 17-year-old, busking her way down city streets before forming Hurray for the Riff Raff in 2007. Not to be confused with rapper RiFF RAFF, Segarra’s band is a lighter take on the folk genre. The nigh hypnotic vocals of Segarra melt over an eclectic range of instrumentations. Country crescendos, popping bongos and the occasional salsa beat underline the poetry of Segarra, shifting genres almost from track to track. The group's latest album, The Navigator, takes the concept to the next level, with Segarra using her Dylan-esque brand of storytelling to delve into the triumphs and travails of her own story, one of a Puerto Rican girl growing up in America. Tracks like "14th Floor" juxtapose Segarra’s experience of living in a New York high-rise with that of her father’s propeller plane ride to New York from his native Puerto Rico. Hurray for the Riff Raff is folk music with a beating heart. Unafraid to strip down the traditional nostalgia of folk music in order to express deeper truths, Hurray for the Riff Raff is a true melting pot of traditional American music and Segarra’s modern American experience. Hurray for the Riff Raff plays Trees at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $20 at treesdallas.com. – Nicholas BostickA museum is the perfect place for a perfect murder. It’s big and full of hallways, so it’s easy to slip away when your target is alone and do the deed. It takes way too long for the rest of the party to rush to the scene when someone discovers the body or hears an echoing scream bouncing off the marble walls. This isn’t encouragement if you’re considering committing such an atrocity, but it is if you enjoy solving a fake murder mystery. The Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood St., will stage one of its popular Museum Murder Mystery events from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, June 2. Guests will enjoy a pregame dinner at 6 p.m. before the body drops at 8 p.m. and the sleuthing begins. Tickets are $35 per person or $30 for museum members. Participants must be at least 16 years old. Tickets are available dma.org. – Danny Gallagher

Every Prokofiev composition is inscrutable — at turns euphoric, pained and complex and shrouded always in some veneer of drama or mystery. Teeming with political and social intricacies, the composer’s 5th Symphony is no different. The world was in the throes of war at the symphony’s triumphant debut. The symphony’s twitchy energy and measured optimism bore this out, capturing the mood and atmosphere of a world on edge. Its opening is brilliant and sweeping. Its midsection and conclusion flit between utter despair and meditative tranquility. Some see a critical wink in the symphony’s warm tone, a mask meant to hide the struggles of an artist toiling under Stalin’s restrictive regime. Others spot the expression of a piercing empathy; Prokofiev called the composition “a symphony of the greatness of the human spirit, a song of praise of free and happy mankind.” Motivations and subtexts aside, Prokofiev’s 5th is a work of biting beauty. Renowned pianist Yefim Bronfman will perform Brahms' Second Piano Concerto to open the program. Jaap van Zweden conducts. Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 2-3, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 4, at The Meyerson, 2301 Flora St. Tickets start at $19. More info at mydso.org. – Jonathan Patrick

It’s hard to say which Beatles album is the best. It may even be impossible. But we can infer that the wonderfully weird Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sits high on John, Paul, George and Ringo’s list of achievements. The 13-track canon of whimsical tunes, performed under the guise of a fictional military band, gave us some memorable numbers with “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “With A Little Help From My Friends.” And in celebration of the album’s 50th anniversary June 1, Dallas’ favorite tribute band to the fab four, Hard Night’s Day, plays the Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., at 8 p.m. Friday, June 2. For more information on the event and to purchase tickets, which range from $19 to $29, visit granadatheater.com. – Diamond Victoria

Everyone knows Alice runs with a twisted crowd of characters like the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and a crazy caterpillar. (Oh, and there’s that creeptastic queen.) But what few audiences know is how she can dance the nights – and afternoons – away with dodo birds, unicorns, lobsters, mushrooms, frogs and more. Thanks to Texas Ballet Theater and its production of Ben Stevenson’s Alice in Wonderland, rows of dance lovers can fall down the rabbit hole with a few additional choreographed companions Lewis Carroll may not have foreseen, lose a bit of logic and enter the world of gravity-defying fantasy at 8 p.m. Friday, June 2; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, June 3; and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, June 4, at the Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St. Sure, Alice lands on her toes, but there’s no telling if she’ll keep her head about her. Find out for $20 to $115.25 per ticket. Visit texasballettheater.org. – Merritt Martin Sat 6/3When did being called a reader become an insult? It made sense when we were kids because kids are supposed to act irrationally so they can learn how to behave when they presumably grow up. Now we have grown adults calling people readers the same way they’d describe some rich snob who turns his nose up at the rest of the world. We had a presidential candidate in 2012 who said on the campaign trail, “We need a leader, not a reader.” If you don’t buy into the notion that being literate means you think you’re better than everyone, then proudly show off your love for books at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 3, at this year’s Deep Ellum Lit Hop, sponsored by Wordspace. Readings will be at Independent Kitchen, 2712 Main St.; Kettle Art, 2650 Main St.; Deep Vellum Books, 3000 Commerce St.; and Drugstore Cowboy, 2721 Main St. Guests can walk the downtown streets to peruse the shelves for fun, new reads and the perfect drinks with which to pair them. The Lit Hop schedule will also feature special events like a poetry showcase at Pandora’s Box and a Dallas fiction writers showcase at Kettle Art. Visit facebook.com/WordSpaceTexas for more information on the Lit Hop and a full schedule of events. – Danny Gallagher

Lebanese-Nigerian producer Nicole Moudaber is considered one of the top 100 DJs in the world. With a slew of IDMA and DJ Award nominations, a bevy of successful singles and EPs, and a growing reputation in the fashion industry, she's quickly ascending into the upper stratosphere of recognizable acts. This summer is a busy one for Moudaber; she's booked for many festival and club appearances. Among her globetrotting adventures is this Saturday night's appearance at Deep Ellum's It'll Do. The packed club should serve as an ideal environment for the pulsating rhythms of tracks like "Where Shadows Lie" and "These Walls Are Made Of Water" to fully take shape and induce an electric trance. Moudaber plays It'll Do, 4322 Elm St., at 9 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20 to $25 at eventbrite.com.– Jeff Strowe

Getting tooted before an afternoon of shopping is a good way to spend money on a bunch of crap you don't need or really even like all that much. Normally we don't advise it. But when Double Wide bar, 3510 Commerce St., opens its doors from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 3, for its June flea market, it's safe to bring out the beer goggles. It’s invited only the best and hippest dealers of antiques, vintage clothes, records, jewelry, comic books and more. So even if you get a little loosey-goosey in your spending, you won't wake up with a dud. Take advantage of happy hour until 7 p.m. Wells and domestics are $3, and admission costs you squat. – Caroline North

For more than 30 years, North Texas-based artist Sean Starr has created ornate, traditionally handpainted signs, and in 2013, Starr was featured in the documentary film and book Sign Painters. Starr – who has worked as an artist, sign painter, designer and illustrator – and his work achieved an international reputation and a wide range of exhibitions while he worked for companies like the Gap, Indian Motorcycle and Sony Music, as well as recording artists ranging from the Cranberries to Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsay Buckingham to the Toadies. Starr’s commercial artwork and design are available through his studio in Denton, which is operated by Starr and his wife, Kayleigh. His artwork is being shown at the Starr Gallery, 135C Pittsburg St., and the gallery is hosting the opening party for the new space in Dallas from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 3. The opening is free and open to the public and will include the original artwork Starr created for the cover of the Toadies' album Heretics and the unveiling of a large-scale gilded-glass piece for Dallas tattoo artist Josh Hall. For more information, visit seanstarr.com. – Daniel Rodrigue

There are moments in life when your mind argues with you. "Do I know that person?" You think you recognize him or her, that you’ve interacted before, that maybe you’re friends on Facebook. But the person is appearing out of context, in an unexpected place, so you can’t place him or her. That’s how it feels to look at Joshua West’s I, A Stranger exhibition at Haley-Henman Gallery, 422 Singleton Blvd. His paintings are adapted from photography: his own, that of artist Kristen Giles and from collected social media images. There’s an air of familiarity about the subjects; you know them, but you don’t. The splashes of color and abstractions West uses to frame his subjects play with our perception of them, setting them apart while asking us to consider our common connections and identities. Experience West’s affecting portraiture during the opening reception from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 3, or from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays until July 8. – Jennifer Davis-Lamm

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Sun 6/4Beer pong is not a sport. It’s a much easier way to play pingpong. It takes skill, talent and physical agility to master the art of paddle smacking. Your eyes have to square off against a tiny piece of plastic moving at 60 mph, and the only weapon you have is a paddle. Beer pong is the equivalent of bowling on a lane with gutters that keep your ball from missing the pins. It’s soccer without that pesky, no-hands rule. If you think you’ve got what it takes to prove your real pingpong prowess and you enjoy beer, then sign up for Peticolas Brewing Co.’s annual pingpong tourney from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, June 4. The brewing company will pit 32 players against each other in a single-elimination tournament in which the last player standing wins a $50 gift certificate. Peticolas Brewing Company is at 1301 Pace St. Participants will be entered on a first-come, first-served basis and must pay a $5 registration fee that gets credit for the brewing company’s taproom. Tickets for the tourney are available at prekindle.com. – Danny Gallagher

The success of Mexican filmmakers in Hollywood over the past few years is certainly no fluke. Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro are just a few who have given cinema enthusiasts hours of award-winning entertainment with their immense talents in directing, writing and producing some of the best films to come out in the past decade. (Think Birdman, Gravity and several in The Hobbit series.) Could Mexican cinema be entering its second golden age? In any case, it’s worth reflecting on the period between 1936 and 1959 when Mexico’s film industry was second only to oil and gave Hollywood a run for its money. In celebration of its exhibit México 1900-1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco and the Avant-Garde, The Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood St., hosts Film Series: The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, a free four-day series that began in May and takes place over two months with seven films shown in the Horchow Auditorium. At 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 4, you can check out two classics: Enamorada and La Perla, respectively. Enamorada follows a lovelorn guerrilla general in the Mexican revolution, and La Perla tells of the pangs of striking it rich. For more information on the two films and the series, visit dma.org. – Diamond Victoria Mon 6/5It’s hard, especially when it gets hot in Texas, to keep up a workout routine. And maybe we don’t always have the time to stick to a regular schedule of burpees, situps and jumping jacks. But getting in an hour of fresh air and a brisk jog is definitely doable, thanks to the First Monday Social Run hosted by Tri-Now Endurance, a local fitness training organization. This month’s run kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 5, at the spillway at White Rock Lake, on the corner of Garland Road and Winsted Drive. Get your legs moving and socialize with others at this free event for members and nonmembers. Take in the beauty of one of Dallas’ most prized lakes and parks, and work off that lasagna at the same time. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page. — Diamond Victoria